Adventures with the Ross Family

Have you ever had a day where the kids just couldn't mind?  After their quiet time, I took them outside to play.  But they argued and whined.  Julie kept wanting to go in the front and we were playing in the back.  It was 90 degrees out.  I wasn't having the best of time and it seemed neither were the kids. 

So we came inside and I thought they would play with their toys.  Instead, they ran around and fought.  And made a mess of toys, but didn't play.  It was driving me nuts.

And this is where I insert that I was drinking some NC Cherry Soda (aptly named Cheerwine) and I started feeling like if "wine" was in the name, they should probably put some in the drink!  Ha!

Anywho, I decided that I want my kids to sit in one place.  Eureka!  I had an idea.  I needed to return a library book this week and suddenly, I decided it had to be today.  Because I knew that if I put the kids in the car (with snacks and milk) they would sit and eat..meaning they would sorta behave. 

And that's exactly what I did.  It was a slice of heaven for 30 minutes.  Now I should mention that the library is only 10 minutes away.  But I took the longest route-and then some.  And it worked.  They snacked and behaved.  I got a little bit of the break I needed.  

Sometimes you just have to do what works.  But don't come to me for any parenting advice.  I feel as if I have sunk to a new low.  

In other news, I came across this at Walmart the other day and it was hit with Justin. 

He loves Key Lime Pie, I'm pretty indifferent to it.  But I did like the cookies.  Of course, the kids didn't.  It was "too sour" as Jax puts it. 

And lastly, the purse organization struggle still continues.  It's supposed to look like this:

(Notice the missing purse?)

Oh-here it is.  In the Mr. Potato Head bin.  That really makes sense.

Well, there's not much to report here.  I've been busy working on organizing and Spring Cleaning the house.  Yes, it feels like it's been taking forever.  But I've been in the mood and I try to move where the {Spring Cleaning} spirit takes me.  Which is space saving bags and command hooks!  Slowly, very slowly, the closets are looking better.  I'm loving the challenge over at Money Saving Mom.  It helps to keep me on track.

My self-appointed task this week was to organize Julie's closet.  I've decided that I want to hang her purses on command hooks so she can reach them and use them when needed.  (Which is all the time, apparently.)  She took one look at her purses lined up and told me no.  Then she took every purse down and put them in one of her toy bins.  So I explained to her that you can see them on the hooks!  and you can find one in a moments notice! and look how cool they are on the hooks!  To which she looked at me and said no again.  But I persevered and hung them back up.  Twenty minutes later I went back into her room and the purses were missing yet again.  And back in their unorganized state in her Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head toy bin. 

I can't help but think that this incident can not bode well for me when she is older.  Let's say...a teenager!  Yikes!

Meanwhile, we are gearing up for Jax to head to a summer session of preschool.  There's been some crazy excitement about going away for three hours-playing and learning...oh! And I'm sure Jax is excited too.  I kid.  Kinda.

He's just very ready to go out into the world and start being more independent from his family.  Which is sad that we are wrapping up the baby/toddler/preschool phase of his life and starting a new one.  And yet, it's exciting.  Tonight he gets to go over to his school and have popsicles on the playground. I love that each month the PTA puts on an event for the rising Kindergartners.  So smart!

This morning I overheard him talking to himself about school.  (He still has no internal dialogue at times.)  He was saying that after he is too big for Kindergarten, then it's 1st grade, then 2nd grade, then 3rd grade, then 4th grade, then 5th grade, then 6th grade, then 7th grade, then 8th, grade, then 9th grade, then 10th grade, then 11th grade, then 12th grade.  Then he commented, "Man, that's a lot!"  I didn't have the heart to tell him that he may also need to go to a college of some sort!

And last, but not least...it's Justin's birthday today!  After work, we plan on heading out to dinner.  I'm thinking BBQ unless Justin has something else in mind.  (But really, who turns down good BBQ?)

Well, off to make some Key Lime Cookies (Eh?  Not sure how those will turn out, but it's Justin's favorite pie) and Vanilla Cupcakes.  Because according to Jax, you have to have cake for birthdays!

Jaxson keeps me on my toes with his curiousity.  He says the funniest things as he learns about life.  I try to remember them and write them down, but it somehow slips my mind.  But here are a few that I managed to scribble down:

At seeing a half-moon-

Jax:  "Why does the sun broke the moon into two pieces?"

Me:  "Who told you that?"

Jax:  "No one.  I just thought about it."

Talking about marriage-

Me:  "One day you will find a nice girl and marry her."

Jax:  "Oh, I don't have to look. I already found a girl."

Me (thinking he was going to say a girl in his preschool class.  There is one that he is pretty smitten with.)  "Oh, who's that?"

Jax:  "Julie.  She's a nice girl and I already know her."

Me:  "Jax, you can't marry your sister."  Trust me, I was laughing so hard.

At Target-

Jax was looking at a toy and I walked down the aisle and apparently out of his sight.

Jax:  "Mom!  Where are you?  You got lost!"

About his Lego toys-

"I just love my Rancor Pit because it has so much detail to it.  See Mom, all the detail?"

"I really like my Lego mini-figure collections." 

I can thank EvanTubeHD for his description of any Lego/Angry Bird/Star Wars toys.  Jax loves that YouTube channel and can tell me about any toy that Evan reviews.  Sheesh, a five year old naming his favorite YouTube channel!

About being a grown-up-

As we were driving by his future school, he said to Julie:  "Jul, that's where I go to Kindergarten.  Then I get done with Kindergarten and I go to first grade.  Then I will finally be a grown-up!"

This kid is a riot.  It's fun to see life through his eyes.

Justin had the day off and it was a gorgeous day.  We decided to head downtown to the museum.  Little did we know that everyone else had the same idea!  It was hard to find parking and it was just plain crowded.  We decided to head to the park instead.  We figured it would be crowded, but not like the millions of people pouring off school buses at the museum.

And we were right.  It was crowded.  But it wasn't too bad considering we were outdoors and there was a lot of room to run and play.

We let the kids run on the playground.

We rode the train!  (And Jaxson pointed out that it wasn't anyone's birthday!  It's a tradition to ride the train when we have a birthday, so Jax wanted to make sure we were aware of the fact we were birthday-less in our family today!)

We have since found out that Julie is not a big fan of the train.  She whimpered through the ride and wanted to be held only by me the entire time.  We may need to find a new birthday tradition!

Afterwards we let the kids swing.

Funny story-Jax is petrified of swinging but really, really, really wants to do it.  So he would sit on the swing and...just sit there.  Meanwhile, Julie is flying high and laughing like crazy.  At one point I tried to push him (thus showing him that swinging is fun when you know, you actually swing!)  But he freaked out.  Lesson learned on my part.  If he likes sitting on the swing-then so be it!

Before we left for lunch, we tried the boats.  Both kids spied them out while waiting in line for the train and I have to say, they were a hit with both kids!

I love how they put two steering wheels in so both kids could "drive" the boat.  But only one bell in the front of the boat?  Now that was just some poor planning!  'Cause both kids wanted to ring the bell all the time.  Luckily, they did share as best they could in that situation.

By then we were hungry and needed to leave before both kids had hunger/thirst/tired breakdowns.  We made it to the car just in time!

Spring is in the air!  It finally turned 70 degrees and we were so excited.  Jax could proudly wear his "armpit shirts" again.  (translation:  tank tops)  And I decided that every closet needs some serious cleaning out.  So I have embarked on a journey that should be complete by spring of next year.  Ha!  I kid.  But it is a big task because we seem to accumulate a lot in two years of being here.  How does that happen?  My conclusion is that clutter breeds all by itself.  It needs no help from us at all.

In addition to spring cleaning, I've noticed that both Target and Walmart are having huge clearances in the home decoration section.  I found really cute frames, accent rugs, and candles all for....wait for it....$1 each!  It was a steal, in my opinion.  And then I found shoe organizers and two tiered shelves on clearance that would work great for organizing some toys.  And so, I've been having fun.  My motto is-if I haven't used it in a year, it's outta here!

And then last night, I took Jaxson to Kindergarten orientation.  I sat there in the school gym thinking, "How did this happen?  Didn't I just bring him home from the hospital in his cute newborn outfit?"  Jax was pretty excited.  They gave the kids snacks and a goody bag.  And then the kindergarten teachers took them to to the classrooms to read, play, and color.  Jax practically jumped up from his chair when they called the kids to follow the teachers.  Meanwhile, us parents could learn the ropes of the school.  

It was a good meeting.  We have a Kindergarten lunch social to go to next week.  The school works really hard in getting the kids used to the school even before they get there in the fall!  I'm thankful for that.

Well, back to the closets now.  I have a pile of junk that's calling my name!

Today was the Easter Egg hunt at church!  Both kids were pretty excited.

When we got there, Jax immediately ran to work on crafts.

He was gluing tissue paper to a cross.  This was by far his favorite thing to do!

Julie's age group was up first to hunt!

She gathered up a few eggs.  I think she was mostely wondering why she was gathering eggs in the first place!  But she seemed to have fun!

Jax's group was up next.

He was very much in "hunting mode" and he was off like lightning!

After all that hard work, Julie really needed a snack....

Love her plan of attack on that messy cupcake.  And yes, she was wearing it as well in the end!

Lastly, Julie joined in the crafts too.  Jax had was making his third creation and Julie realized she was missing out!

Afterwards, we came home and hung up our creations.  Jax really wanted to hang them on the front door so everyone could see them, but we settled for the front window instead.  You know, in case it rains or snows (shudders) because you know...it is Spring!

Hmmm...I think they add a lovely touch to our window....

Seriously.  My kids were crazy today!  Do you ever have days like this?

In the bath, Jax decided he needed to shampoo Julie's hair.  He used my shampoo.  And yes, as you can guess, Julie had soap in her eyes and it was some major drama.

After everyone was (finally) ready, I asked Julie if I could get her picture.  Usually, she scrunches up her face and say "cheese!".  But not today.  She was adament that she was not going to cooperate and kept saying "no!"  (Talk to the hand.....)

As I was (trying!) to clean the house, I caught of glimpse of Jax rolled up like a burrito while watching TV.  Um, ok?

Jax had decided later on, to push Julie off her "perch" (the arm of the couch).  Of course, she falls and hits her chin on the TV stand.  Really, Jax?!  Really?

I found a paper airplane and a pan with a pom-pom in it when I opened the freezer.  I'm pretty sure that was Jax's doing, as Julie can' reach the freezer yet.  (Atleast, I hope she's not getting into the freezer yet!)

I needed to run to the store after nap times.  And boy, that was an adventure.  Jax chose a Yoda Easter basket at Kmart that he desperately needed.  I had to tell him no, and he did not like that one bit.   I almost left him in the store!  'Cause I'm not spending $17 bucks on a Yoda Easter basket.  Just sayin'.

But kudos to Kmart for putting those Easter baskets smack dab in the front of the store.  I bet no kid misses the Elmo, Star Wars, Princess, etc. baskets.....

We then proceeded to Food Lion and our trip was redeemed a bit because they had a little cart for Jax.  Lately, those carts have not been at the front of the store-just for Jax.  This helped out our trip a bit.

But, I have to be careful when he has his own cart...he becomes a shopping machine!  All sorts of random things end up in his cart!

I was thankful when Justin walked in the door.  Now I could send the kids to him and catch a breath!

I love my kids, but there are just some days that if I knew what the day would be like, I would just stay in bed! Ha!

Oh the funny things kids say.  Seriously, I laugh everyday because of how Jax interprets the world.  Enjoy.

2/13 Jax talking about the cross after Ash Wednesday:  In walking to the car, he asked me if the nails hurt Jesus.  I told him yes.  And then he said that he didn't want to go on the cross with the nails.  That it would hurt him.  I told him that he didn't have to because Jesus did that for him.  He seemed relieved.  I think he was just trying to figured out the reason why we have the cross on our heads!

2/18 While driving in the car, Jax told me that his imaginary friend Vicki was going to China because she wanted to eat spaghetti.  I'm pretty sure that you go to Italy to eat spaghetti, not China.  But I wasn't about to correct Vicki on that one.

2/18 I was taking out my earrings and Jax asked me why I had them.  I told him that they make my ears look pretty.  He said, "No...they help you hear."  I told him that I wasn't joking but he didn't believe me.

2/19 Jaxson was sitting up front in the car while we were parked, and he looked into the rear view mirror and told us that it is for checking our eyes.  Ha!  So we told him that we use the mirror to make sure that are eyes are still in our head while driving. He really believed us!  But then we told him the truth of why we need it. 

2/19 You know when Jaxson's imagination is going above and beyond when he tells me that he texted his (imaginary) friend Vicki so she would call him today.  He was using one the old iphones and "texting" in the search area.  Too funny!

Yesterday it was was 68 degrees.  We wore flip flops and short sleeves.  And when Justin came home from work, I told him it might snow.  He didn't believe it. 

But look!  It really did snow!

Jaxson is trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue.  He said they tasted yummy!

We went outside after it had been snowing for hours. We threw a couple of snow balls....walked around...and then decided we were cold and went back inside! 

This was the one thing Jax was most excited about-making a snow angel.  He could have used some more snow, but you can sort of see the outline....

I'm sure this will all be gone tomorrow.  This just goes to show, you can't put away your flip flops during winter!

It's Valentine's Day!  Jax was so happy because he couldn't wait to open a box that Alma had sent.  He had no idea that I had gotten them something as well.  He was pretty excited to open his gift.

Julie received The Little Mermaid bath toys and Jax got the Angry Bird Eary Bird set.  He was so excited since he wanted the Princess Leia bird.

I tried to get a picture of both of them, but this is the best I could do.  Julie was chomping on heart candy and Jax just wanted to play with his toys.

They played for a long time, but what really gets me is when Julie pulled up a box and sat in it!  Julie was watching Pingu while reading an Elmo book.

After naptimes, we went and got the mail.  I love how Julie has to accessorize just to go to the mail box!

Jax was so excited to get a letter from Alma!  He loves getting mail and boxes and get so annoyed when a letter or box is for someone else.

And finally, we were playing with our toys again.  The box had been cast aside and she was playing with Ariel!  (And getting soaking wet!)

It was a nice and quiet Valentine's Day!